True, but (a) they were typically experienced investors, and (b) today's market includes record prices and high mortgage rates, which is a double whammy. 

Appraisal is a strong background going into this, you've already got a leg up congrats.I'm not in your market but I'm a big fan of all things affordable housing. 

It’s great to hear you’ve got experience across both Indiana and Florida markets.

I agree with the others here that say you need to have some skin in the game, if you are going to live there yourself, get an FHA loan rather than owner financing, you can get a 3.5% down loan, personally I do not love these as they require  PMI which is an additional expense, and you also need  bring additional funds for closing at least for taxes, title, attorney and transfer fees . borrowing from anyone else for the down payment, to include a personal loan from the bank is not a good idea, those again will be higher int. rate.

And my options are: -One $800k property in CA (25% down), or-Two $400k properties in ID (both at 25% down).If we take the 2015-2020 5-year appreciation (so as not to include the roller coaster and unlikely 5-year market we experienced from 2020-2025) for each state, the CA property would see an average appreciation of 37%.

Once you have cash in hand, you can unlock the unit for 24 hours and let him move his stuff out.I would also consider charging an additional deposit of $500 or something, just to prevent him from leaving all the trash or stealing your refrigerator.

I also have $102k in a money market account that currently earns about 4.5%.

I pull permits for removal of load bearing walls, addition of bathrooms or bedrooms, addition of footage.

I want to create a strong marketing plan before taking that step to help me achieve my goal of earning $50k in commissions.I’m hoping this group can help me with a few questions:1.

Not sure why owners invest in rentals, yet do very little research on market conditions!